


Tyger, Tyger in the Night

by DarkShadows93



Category: Tiger's Curse Series - Colleen Houck, Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Circus, Beta Wanted, Curses, Getting Lost in a Circus, Inspired by Caraval, Inspired by The Night Circus, Inspired by Tiger's Curse Series, Inspired by a lot of Circus books, M/M, Magic and Science, Minor Character Death, Night Vale is a Circus, Tiger!Cecil, Typical Night Vale Violence, Typical Night Vale Weirdness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-07-02 11:07:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15795261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkShadows93/pseuds/DarkShadows93
Summary: The Circus arrived at dusk. No announcements or flyers were made. No warnings or city permits were written. The Circus simple arrived, suddenly almost out of thin air.  A series of dark mysterious trucks lined the roads for miles searching for their home. People stopped and stared at the trucks drove through town, not knowing what to do. The trucks kept going until they had found their new home. By midnight, The Circus became alive and only those invited could explore the Big Tops of Night Vale.It doesn't take long for one person to be swept way in all the mysteries that Night Vale holds.





	1. The Circus arrives

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome! Hello!
> 
> So this is a new story that just randomly popped up in my head thanks to a reread of Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck. 
> 
> This chapter is unbetaed and all mistakes are mine until i can find a beta. 
> 
> Now further ado...

_~ ‘The Circus arrives without warning. No announcement precede it.  It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.” ~ The Night Circus_

 

The Circus arrived at dusk. No announcements or flyers were made. No warnings or city permits were written. The Circus simply arrived suddenly, almost out of thin air. A series of dark mysterious trucks lined the roads for miles until they found their place to call home. People stopped what they were doing to watch as trucks drove through town. They soon had found their home in a massive field on the edge of the University of What is.

People at first watched as the trucks slowly parked and took claim upon the field. This was their home now for as long as it could stay. It could be days, months, or even years. The Circus would stay as long as it was wanted. The people watched as the trucks slowly grew silent and found that they were empty. It was too eerie to watched as one by one the trucks grew silent like stars flickering out in the sky. After a long while, the crowds went home to dream peaceful dreams as slowly the magic that was this particular circus slowly trickled out into the city. One by one the trucks opened with a single ‘pop’ as the inhabitants of the mysterious circus emerged from the belly of the metal creatures. The Circus started to build itself up towards the sky. People were unloading the trucks as fast as they could just so they could kiss the starry night sky.

Carlos watched from his lab window as massive beams emerge from the trucks, impossibly too long to fit in the small quarters . Puzzledly, Carlos tapped his pen against the mass of papers  growing on his desk. _Impossible..._ he thought as he watched as the first tent rise towards the star filled sky not even five minutes since they started to unpack the trucks. Carlos was amazed with the progress and the beauty that came with the night. Even with the darkness, the colors of the circus were vibrant as if it were day. Striped with dark purple hues, black and starlight reaching the far limits of the physical world. The tip of the tent held a diadem of a purple all seeing eye. Carlos held his breath as he leaned in towards the window almost in a trance with the Circus already. Within thirty minutes, the Circus had an physical appearance of a small town filling the void between the physical ground and the glowing night sky. Carlos  stared, blinking slowly as he watched the empty field finished its transformation into a glorious spectre.

Something was telling him to look back at his work, his digital watch glowing with the time _11:30pm_ “I really should get back to-” a soft touch caressed his shoulder as a slight flicker appeared in his peripherals. Carlos quickly turned around to see what it was but found nothing, as he turned back to his work he gasped to find that his coffee cup had been moved three inches to the left and his mass of papers were now neatly organized to look more aesthetically pleasing. It was pleasing after all.

“What the -” Before Carlos could even question and admire the fact that his desk had been rearranged into an aesthetically pleasing way, a plastic water bottle was sent flying into the window exploding and spraying water all over the glass

“I uh-” Carlos stammered the last of his words as he watched the stream of water run down the glass like heavy rain. He blinked not just once, not just twice, but three times in order to process what he had seen. Carlos rubbed his face in what looked like shock as all theories dwindled into nothing. He had no possible explanation on what had just occurred. 

“I would get up if I were you…” a female voice spoke to him

Carlos rushed out of his seat to look behind him to find the voice only to watch as his seat is pulled away from his desk. Carlos at first thought it was his interns messing with him again. They would always find a way to tease him in some sick way. He cursed silently as he looked back to the window just as the animals started to file into the Circus city. A lot of the creatures he did not recognize like winged dark creatures with one white eye that looked like an angel but Carlos knew that did not exist and even a literal five headed dragon with a gold, black, blue, green, and violet heads.

Out of all the odd bizarre creatures, there was one creature that _seemed_ normal but in reality it was not. In a large rolling cage sat a tiger with moonlight white fur and violet eyes that Carlos could see from his window. Stripes were unique to each tiger in the world but with this particular tiger’s stripes it was not. It’s stripes were a dark purple nearly black  resembling tendrils and tentacles of some Eldrich horror. They swirled and danced across the white fur forming what appeared to a closed third eye in the center of the tiger’s face. Carlos felt like he was being watched again, he glanced back to find nothing behind him but he could see the Tiger’s violet eyes staring aright him. He felt intrigued by the creature but yet sorry. Why was such a beautiful creature trapped like that?   
  
Carlos wanted to explore the circus just to examine that creature. There was no tiger in the world that looked just like that. He knew that it had to be studied to find what mutation it had or if it was a new breed that the world needed to know about. His breath escaped from his chest as walked towards the window staring at the creature as it faded from view. Carlos wanted to explore the Circus, to get lost just to find the tiger. He wanted to get lost within the massive Big Tops even though deep down, Carlos knew he couldn’t leave safety that was his lab. This Circus no matter how glorious it could be, was a distraction from the biggest discovery that would be made for the University. His potential discovery of temporal abnormalities in space that could cause time to remain frozen and almost nonexistent. He knew he couldn’t explain it to normal people but he knew it was going to be huge.

Carlos tried to force his gaze from the circus but couldn’t force himself to do it. His heart beating rapidly, urging him to find a way to go to the Circus and forget science for a night. But there was something inside him telling him that it would be impossible to go behind the gates that surrounded the small city.

“You have to have an invite to enter the Circus.” The Voice that spoke to him earlier said as Carlos placed a hand on wet window, “Sorry.”

Carlos sighed loudly as he turned away from the window and the beautiful scene outside to stare at his desk and the chalkboard filled with an array of formulas and the word ‘science’ written in a plethora of fonts shared between him and his team of intern scientists. He would never get an invite and his work would never allow him if he did. Science comes before play of any sort and this Circus no matter how glorious and beautiful it was- This Circus was considered play. The Circus would only now be considered  a secret wish that could never come true. Carlos shrugged sadly as his finished his coffee and placed all of his paperwork into his tan messenger bag. A picture of the Moonlight colored tiger filled his mind reminding him of his desire. One day he would go to a Circus like this one and one day he would like to get lost but only in his dreams.

  
A flip of the light switch and a soft click of a door locking into place and Carlos was gone leaving the mysterious being in his room to hide within the shadows of the equipment of the lab. The night moved on peacefully, the sounds of the Circus filled the night air. The moon was beautiful, fuller than it had been in decades. As people sat outside the circus not allowed to enter as lights passed overhead, Carlos struggled to fall asleep as images of the beautiful tiger filled his mind.

A soft growl, the scuffle of feet or paws or something as it walked or stumbled across the floor of the lab, struggling to open up the lab door. The night sky forming shadows of the creature manages to open up the door. 

“Enjoy your time at the Night Vale Circus, Carlos. Don’t forget to never get lost in the magic…” the female voice spoke as she dropped a red envelope onto the floor before slamming the door to the lab. 

* * *

 

"Move him out!"  
  
A crack of the whip signaled the caged cart to be pulled from the dark depths of a truck. The Tiger within stumbled as the blinding lights burned his violet eyes. He seethed, his fangs bared as he tried to adjust to the bright Circus lights. He blinked slowly as he tried to gain his footing within his cage.

  
This Tiger was the showcase of the Circus, he was unique as he was beautiful. Everyone wanted to see it. But he was so much more than a tiger. He was once the entire Voice of the Circus.

  
This Tiger was unforgettable. It's white moonlight fur covered with dark purple tendrils instead of stripes, its face almost human with the stripes forming a closed third eye in the center of his head and his gorgeous violet eyes. It was punishment for being who he was and what he had done against the Ringmasters and the Secret Guards of Night Vale. It had been many years, decades even since he had been trapped in this state. He used to have a life that had meaning.  But life was boring now when you're a creature trapped in a cage moving from place to place. Life was meaningless when you are trapped behind metal bars.   
  
The Tiger had grown accustomed to be stared at by patrons of the circus after hiding in the shadows for many years before his current state. This time he had the sensation that someone was following him with a curious gase. The tiger searched the area only to find a pair of dark eyes staring at him from a distant building that resembled a college campus.   
  
He stood up straighter trying to get a better look. He felt the heart hidden beneath the moon colored fur, flesh, and blood started to beat rapidly his massive chest as he stared absorbed at the sight.   
  
The man before him was beautiful. Even with the distance between the two locations were greater than what he could physically see, the Tiger could sense that the man was beautiful. Perfect even. The man was tall, skin tanned from the sun that made his flannel and lab coat glow brighter. The perfect curly locks on his head kissed softly by the grey of age neatly behind his ears. The chocolate colored eyes stared at him making eye contact, eyes dark and filled with curiosity and wonder like the partially lit void above them. The Tiger's breath rushed out in short huffs as he tried to catch up with his rapidly beating heart. The Tiger had fallen in love with the man almost instantly.   
  
"Hey! Cecil!" A short harsh whisper dragged him away from the man just as he glanced from the window. His cage now out of sight from the massively growing circus, tents, and buildings forming like a whispering forest in a desert.   
  
"Cecil!"   
  
The Tiger looked up watching as Dana ran up to his cage with a tired smile. Her young age seemed untouched by the decades of acquaintance shared between them "Cecil, it's me, Dana!"   
  
Cecil huffed loudly in a gesture that would symbolize of rolling of one's eyes. It's not like it was a huff of annoyance but more of a huff saying that _'I know who you are Dana. It's not like you're the only one who regards my existence now. You actually try to talk and try to help me get out of this. So please stop announcing your name every time we cross paths, I haven't lost my memory.'_   
  
Dana nodded like she had read the tiger's thoughts "Sorry Cecil. Its just been so long since I've seen you. Years. Decades even. The other side of Night Vale is so large and time just moves slowly there... I think.”   
  
' _Time doesn't exist here Dana. You still look like you're seventeen.’_   
  
"Anyway, I've been trying to figure out how to get you out of _this_ situation for a while now. I thought Circus Ringmasters would let up just a little. It had been almost a hund- but... well... um..."   
  
' _Spit it out, Dana!'_   
  
"They seem content leaving you as you are. Whatever you did Cecil really made them mad. Really mad.  I have never seen a sentient being so angry before. I'm... I'm sorry Cecil. I'll keep trying to get you free… I just need more time.”   
  
Cecil huffed as he laid down on the hard hay covered the bottom of his cage. His violet eyes searching for the distant college building that made him feel free for the first time in decades. How long had it been since he had been free from the binding metal cage? How long had it been since he could talk, laugh, and smile without being a spectacle of a magic and bizarre oddities that was the Night Vale Circus? He closed his eyes trying to forget the pain that laid hidden in his eyes. He craved a drink that was stronger than the rotten water in his bowl. Something he hadn't craved since he had became this creature.  Perhaps it was his mistake that he had made years ago had finally caught up to him. If you see something say nothing and drink to forget. Perhaps that's what he should have done years ago.


	2. Ebony Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, 
> 
> Thanks for reading this. I'm trying to update this as fast as I can. I'm always open for feedback so don't forget to kudos and comment.
> 
> Thanks!

_ ~ “ Every time you take one path, you must live the memory of the other: of a life left unchosen.”-- Katherine Arden, The Girl in the Tower.  ~ _

 

_ A Hundred Years Ago _

Darkness shrouded his eyes as he felt himself stumble forward towards the ground, his knees slamming into the hard earth. Cecil seethed in pain as his body fell forward, his arms tired behind his back preventing to ease the fall. As his face touched the dirt, the gritty texture filling his mouth as he took a long single breath to ease the pain as he heard the sound of a second body falling behind him.  _ When was there a second one? _

The ever so familiar snarls of the Ringmasters filled the dark void that surrounded him. Their hot retched breath making the air impossible to breathe. A single claw grazed across his back, forcing him to sit up and the blindfold falling from his face. Even then, it was still impossible to see. Cecil turned his head toward his supposed company to find only a shadow.

“Hell-” the shadow started say in a jubilant tone before a loud roar echoed around them sending Cecil onto his back. He struggled to get onto his knees, his hands still bounded to his back were useless to push up his weight. As he managed to painfully get onto his knees he was staring a series of blood red eyes focused at him and his company. Cecil had the longest time believed that the Ringmasters were a series of men who traveled and spoke in a group but that was part of the magic of Night Vale. Not everything you can see in Night Vale is real, even the longest inhabitants could still fall for the magic. The Ringmasters released another snarls, sending a wave of rotten air towards the pair. The snarl was not intended for Cecil, he learned as his violet eyes glanced over to his company. It was intended for the shadow as he was laughing. An overly exaggerated cheerful laugh.  _ Why was he laughing? _

“Oh dear…” The man chuckled gleefully as he dislocated his wrists to free himself of his bindings. The pain didn't seem to bother him it was more of motivation, “I did get us in a load of trouble, didn't I Cecil?” the voice sounded so familiar so dastardly that it made Cecil's stomach churn in protest. 

“Who...are you?” The question escaped from Cecil's mouth like poison from a viper. Cecil tasted bile in his mouth, cringing at it. He recognized that voice. His voice was unforgettable and the laugh would haunted his dreams but he could not when he met him.

“Don't you remember? Because I do….” The Man finally looked up to him and smiled. Moon light glimmered into the darkness as the blood red eyes moved away from them pondering the two's interaction. Cecil was horrified. From the dimmest of light, Cecil saw a horrifying sight. Teeth formed almost into a point, it's white surface spattered with blood, a face that reminded him of days when he used to stare upon himself in a mirror before the ominous fortune from the fortune teller warned him that he was going to die from a mirror. He bore the same third eye in the center of his forehead and tattoos down his arms instead of them bring violet like they always been, they were as black as his eyes. Cold, dark, and ebony. But that smile, no it wasn't a smile- it was a sinister snarl like an animal ready to attack.

Cecil stumbled back astounded at the site before him. He shook his head “No, I don't- oh Gods…no” he whispered as memories finally boiled to the surface.

* * *

 

Cecil trudged through the muddy grounds of the Circus. The scent of fresh rain lingering in the air muting out the scents of sweet delectables from food stands near by. He looked up the sky, watching as dark menacing clouds tumbled into Circus. A storm looked over them threatening to wash away the illusion Night Vale played on the Outsiders. Cecil knew it was going to be a nasty storm just as the air tasted of charged electricity. He quickly adjusted his purple poncho over his arms to prepare for the chilled air that started to sweep through the tents and stands. He knew he had to be home soon.

The part of the Circus that Cecil called home was dark and deserted like a vast desert. As performers left their homes, as the strange creatures and animals left their cages and cases to go perform for the Outsiders it left the residential area abandoned like a ghost town. The tents flapped with the cold wind, blowing over empty bottles playing a single depressed note. It was truly a ghost town just how Cecil preferred some days.

Being the Voice of Night Vale had its perks. He did not have to physically perform, his body small and slender unable to do must stunts. He performed by using his voice. A dark, low, smooth voice like caramel to tell stories from the shadows. Stories that came to life in vivid imagery in the eyes of his listeners. A performance that drew crowds that made him bask in the power that was his voice. He was also tasked to relay the news and currently weather reports to the rest of the many performers and workers of Night Vale. After all he was just a voice. A voice that did not have to be seen.

Cecil trudged down the empty walkway, mud pulling at his bare feet. He had lost his inflated sponge sandals at the beginning of his journey but it didn't seem to bother him. The sky above him started to spit rain onto him in slow drops. He stopped at a crossroad, his eyes focused at the dark clouds questioning the appearance of the rain. Cecil never once questioned his existence. He had always questioned and even rebelled against the rules of the Circus resulting in many reeducations and memory loss. But this time he questioned why he felt empty. Why did he feel like he was missing something? Something in his long life that was important. Questioning one's purpose could cause trouble so he was quick to push it aside. Another time Cecil. Another time.

The rain had begun to pick up now, drenching his moonlight colored hair and poncho. Cecil shook his head ridding of the excess water and clearing his head as he rushed back to his home. He had so many things to look forward to at home. He had Khoshekh, his hovering cat.He had his personal writing project that he wanted published. He had homemade coffee. He had a life that remained hidden from the Circus. But he never made it that far. As Cecil approached the wooden door of his home, his hand reaching out for safety. He caught the bitter metallic scent of fresh blood against the fresh clean rain.

“No! Stop-!” A shriek cut through the pounding thunder just as a crack of lightning flashed overhead.

Cecil lowered his hand and turned his head towards the sound. Another flash of lighting revealed a pair of shadows dancing across the rent canvas, their movements in a dance of violence. A high shrill of laughter sent a chill down Cecil's spine as a glimmer of metal reflected off of lightning. A dying scream pierced the air afterwards.

Cecil slowly walked down the steps of his home back into the rain. Curious and intrigued, Cecil knew that Night Vale had its moments of violence that never grew out of hand. It had its moments where some odd bizarre oddity would threatened the well being of the Circus but it never grew serious. But this was different, Cecil just wasn't sure how.

Cecil pressed his body against a forgotten cart, his violet eyes widening as he watched the final confrontation between a man who looked nearly identical to him. He was neither tall or short, thin or fat. He was almost exact copy. The man wore a black smoking jacket inlaid with vibrant gold and in his hands held a bloodied knife up to a dark skinned woman. The front of her small, thin body was painted with blood. Her skin paling as her entire life force spilled from her body.

“Now, now Vanessa… you should have never told me no.” The man spoke gleefully hissing into her ear, his lips kissing the fresh blood from her neck, his hands stained red with blood.

Vanessa's eyes dilated as she choked out blood, spitting it onto his grinning face. She knew she was going to die. She knew she had gone too far in the Circus. Cecil felt sick. The sight before him, the amount of blood spilt and pooling into the mud made his stomach churn. He closed his eyes trying to control it but it was too late. Cecil expelled the contents of his stomach just as Vanessa took her final breath falling limp in her killer's arms.

The man turned his head towards Cecil and laughed. That God forbid sickening laugh enjoying Cecil's misery, “Well Vanessa, it appears that we have a visitor.” He stared at Cecil and smiled. His eyes were black as ebony. Cold, dark and empty. His smile were just pointed teeth painted with blood and gave false joy, “Oh hi there Cecil. I didn't see you there. Enjoy the show? It's for a new performance.”

“You-  you monster!” Cecil growled as he wiped his face of his stomach contents, “you vile sick monster!”

“Aw.. you didn't like it?” The man pouted before looking into the empty lifeless eyes of his victim, “You see that Vanessa? Cecil didn't like it.” He cooed as he played with Vanessa's face, “Oh what are we going to do about that?”

Cecil took a step back preparing to run and find one of the secret microphones to notify the Quartermaster's Secret Guards. The man responded by mirroring his steps, stepping towards him and dragging the girl's body with him, “Stay back! Stay away you-”

“Kevin.” He replied calmly, his sinister grin growing wider, My name is Kevin, Cecil. It is such a pleasure to meet you at last.”

“Stay back!” Cecil felt his back hit the hard surface of a cart, his hands blindly searching for a weapon but finding nothing, “you're not going to get away with this…  _ Kevin .  _ The Quartermaster's Secret Guards will find out about this. They'll-”

“They’re not going to believe you Cecil.” Kevin's voice dropped an octave as he stared at Cecil with his ebony eyes, his smile never faltering, “ they won't believe you...see?” He released a sickening laugh as he tossed Vanessa's body towards Cecil.

Cecil instantly caught her, her blood staining the front of his poncho spreading onto his face and hands. It was absolutely horrifying.

Cecil let Vanessa go, her limp body falling into the mud. He stared at his own body now painted with blood. He looked up to Kevin who was grinning happily satisfied with his actions. Cecil pushed himself away from the cart, walking backwards getting one last burning look of ebony eyes and blood stained smile before running into the darkness.

Stumbling blindly, his heart rushing, lungs burning as they tried to breathe. Cecil felt his knees growing weak as ran mindlessly into the dark. Blood. So much blood. The mere scent of it retching at his very core. The world spun as he ran, the echoes of the monster's laugh plaguing him, the black ebony orbs and blood stained smile still haunting him. Cecil felt so helpless now because of the girl's death. He should have tried to stop him, he should have tried to save her life. The world turned upside down as panic grasped him tightly by the neck.

The rain was down pouring down, the world shrouded by thick layers of rain cleaning the blood from him but scent still remained. Darkness kissed at the corner of his eyes as he tumbled blindly into a tent unable to catch his footing. Cecil stumbled into silence of a long since forgotten enclosure. An enclosure of Angels. 


	3. An Enclosure of Angels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bloodstains don't matter when- oh wait they do

_ ~ “ It is by suffering that human beings become angels’-  Victor Hugo ~ _

The world stopped around him, frozen in a small fractal piece of space different from beyond the enclosure. Cecil stumbled to his knees, his stomach swirling in disgust, the blood never fully washed away. He felt disgusted and horrified. Cecil just wanted to forget it all. Forget everything that happened to him in the past hour. Was it an hour or was it more? Cecil wasn’t even sure anymore. He ran his fingers through his hair to soothe himself but even that seem to have failed.

“I’m going to be reeducated…  _ again …” _ Cecil breathed out calmly, eyes empty, body cold his voice a mere monotone with no color, “It won’t be as… no… no… no!”

A soft female voice singing cut through the shadows surrounding him. A slow calming hymn echoing around him, Cecil felt his body started to relax and then tense up from the unknown as the shadows grew cold, clinging to his skin. His head shot up as he struggled to his feet, his body swaying from the mere exhaustion. A breath clinging to his lungs as a series of silver flickered in the darkness, the shuffle of feet shuffling on the dirt ground. Cecil moved back as the shadows grew closer, the fluttering of wings beating against each other like demonic pigeons in flight. One by one, three black and silver winged creatures emerged from the shadows, their bodies elongated stretched to touch the vaulted ceilings, their pitch black skin painted with thin silver tattoos, primitive covering their skins in variety of shapes and lines. Their face lacks any features that resemble anything hominid. Its face bore one eye large silver likes its tattoos and a large smile with silver teeth in  a smile, a friendly smile that one could mistake as deadly.

Cecil blinked a few times, his mind trying to comprehend the creatures around him, not even acknowledging the mere possibility of their existence. These were creatures known as Angels and for as long as he had been with the Circus, Cecil was told and believed that Angels do not exist and was once used as a money scam for those who believed in so called ‘ Angels’.

“Hey there. I’m Erika.” The Angel spoke with a deep voice and a wave of his long appendage

“Erica?” Cecil questioned slowly stepping away from the creature preparing to run.

“Noooo.” Erika sang their smile growing wider, “It’s not Erica. It’s  _ Erika _ with a ‘k’”

“Oh….” Cecil nodded giving a quizzical look unsure what to respond or even think about this interaction. After all, angels were not real. Was there any point to this? Cecil nodded as he tried not to even acknowledge the beings in front of him but couldn’t help it, “okay… alright… Erika. Are they also….”

The single silver eye blinked never pullings its gaze away from, Cecil, “We’re all named Erika before you ask Cecil.”

“How do you-” Cecil stopped himself as he felt his back hit the wall of the enclosure, a cold hard brick, scraping against his back. He shook his head, clenching his fists as Kevin’s laugh echoed through the enclosure, bringing back the blood stained the memories that plagued him, “I- nevermind. It’s not like this is real. Angels are not real. I’ve must have-”

“Your life will never be the same after tonight, Cecil.” Erika spoke softly almost in a trace. It’s wings lowered to its side. The hymn drowning out the whispers of the other angels around him, “Memories of laughter and blood will plague your thoughts, your dreams, your very being. Blood may wash away but it is always there Cecil. You will still feel it. Pumping through your veins, screaming loudly reliving this night. Innocent blood had been spilled, a life of an outsider taken and can’t be returned. Bad things are coming to Night Vale.”

“Oh, you don’t say.” Cecil retorted sarcastically motioning to his blood stained poncho, “Really, I haven’t noticed.”

“Bloodstains won’t matter when you are being punished for a crime you didn’t commit.” Erika’s voice resonated off the walls, never ending, “Cecil your charismatic words won’t be able to free you from this. I can help you, Cecil.”

Cecil stared, blinking as if he was holding in a laugh before bursting at the seams and laughing. This was insane. Impossible. How was he going to respond to this? Angels were not real. It was against Circus law to even acknowledge them. But, yet here he was talking to a seinet being that refers itself to be an angel. This had to be a cruel sick joke though out by the Ringmasters and even Spokesperson Pamela Winchell could have made. First it was Kevin and his gruesome bloody smile and now this. Deep down Cecil knew that this wasn’t a joke. This was real. This was all real.

“There will be a day where the Voice of Night Vale will lose his voice. A day where he would be nothing but a shadow of the man he was.” Another Erika chimed in, the hymn growing louder, “This will be the day where Night Vale stumbles into darkness because she had lost her voice.”

“We, Angels know the past, the present, and the future. Dark days are coming Cecil. Listen to us.”

Cecil rolled his eyes and folded his arms against his chest, still trying not to believe the words coming from the Angels. He knew that he did. A soft click of a door behind him made Cecil tense up in fear, a soft top of a cane hitting the dirt as the footfalls approached him.

A staggered breath as old lung's breathed in, “Cecil?”

He turned around and sighed happily to find Old Woman Josie had joined him in the enclosure, her eyebrows raised in confusion. Old Woman Josie was known as the Caretaker of the Angels. It was a position she had taken up when she literally fell into the enclosure three years prior. Everyone had thought she had died until she walked out of the enclosure a month later with a cane and a broken foot. No one had the heart to tell her that Angels aren't real but she wouldn't believe it anyway.

“Josie! I'm glad to see you! I was just about to-”

“Hold on Cecil.” She pointed her unneeded cane at the center of his chest, ‘I heard everything. Erika is right,  you know.”

“ I do not know who this Erika is, Josie. Angels don't exist and I just happened to-”

“Hush. It is rude to interrupt. ” Josie stabbed his chest with her cane, “  Everyone knows about the dead outsider by now.Don't you think I don't know about their prophecies? But listen to me Cecil. You have known me for a very long time and I have never once lied to you no? They are right, because I've seen it. I've seen the darkness and it is not the normal darkness that we've lived with comin’ into the Circus. Out of everyone in Night Vale, you're going to suffer the most. When we rely on you and you suffer… we all suffer.”

“Josie… I didn't kill -” Cecil felt his voice falter into nothing but a whisper, his eyes widening at the still fresh blood filled memories. Josie placed a hand on his shoulder grounding him back into reality. He blinked slowly as if seconds turned to hours before speaking “Kevin. He has to be punished for this. That outsider… Vanessa was her name didn't deserve to die like this. She didn't deserve to die.”

“Cecil, Kevin will get punished for this but he will drag you down with him. This was his way to silence you.” Josie explained as she gripped his shoulder as voices from outside the enclosure grew louder, “You have to hide. Quickly.”

“Kevin will never silence me. I will prove my innocence. I shall not be some sick puppet in his game of-”

His breath hitched as he watched shadows started to bleed into the enclosure. Josie looked back to the entrance and then started pushing Cecil towards the trio of Angels “Time to go. Take care of him, Erika.” The Erika’s nodded as their wings extended out to their full lengths and glowing a bright star silver. Josie stared at Cecil grabbing both of his shoulders “ Cecil, we’ll meet again. No voice stays silent for long. Well… unless you’re mute then we have a problem.”

“Wait! Hold on, Josie!” Cecil tried to stop her from pushing him into the glowing trio of angels, “Stop!”

Josie’s face remained neutral as she pushed him into the glowing vortex of Angels. She lowered her head in solemn as she stated softly “We’ll see each other again, Cecil. Goodnight Cecil. Goodnight.”

Time seemed to stop around him. It was just him falling backwards into a silver vortex created by Angels. Cecil reached out to stop himself from falling but there was nothing to stop him. All he did was fall. Shadows crept into his vision just as the shadows grew louder. Josie smiled at him as she turned around to faced the guards entering the enclosure. All seemed well with her. No harm would come to her the Erikas reassured as he welcomed the shadows of the darkness around him .

* * *

 

Cecil awoke greeted by darkness, a startled breath escaped from him as he felt the familiar embrace of his home. The scents of cold shadows, bergamot, soft musk, and desert air. He relaxed in the tight quarters that he had woken up to. A laugh escaped from him as he  touched the edges, filling the wooden grains of a chest, cold metal stinging his fingers. He was in a chest, a box of something that he had in his home. The only thing he could have think was the chest at the foot of his bed. He couldn’t stop laughing. He didn’t know why he was laughing. Why was he in this chest? His lungs started to burn as the oxygen started run thin. Cecil pushed on the top of the chest, desperate to break free. The weight of the chest started to fail forcing the lid to pop open as the scents grew stronger. Home. This was home. A dim violet light bled through the small crack of the chest. Cecil thought he would be happy to be home, happy to be with Khoshekh and coffee, and even happy to be with the faceless old woman who lived in everyone’s home. But he wasn’t and he couldn’t place why. All he felt was dred and worry.

Cecil sat up from the chest, his eyes widening at the destroy the mess that was his home. His voice grew dry as a desert. The single room of his home was destroyed. His home now had glass topped tables, wallpaper covering the walls, black lacquer dressers covered with books, persian rugs. Everything clashed with itself like a badly thought through designer competition. There were no hint of what there was before, a hint of danish modern with a touch of antique cirque. The only thing was normal, untouched by the sickening design was a black cat hovering five feet in a corner near his bed. The only thing  that made it feel like home. Khoshekh released a demonic howl as he stared at his owner with his green eyes.

“Khoshekh! You’re okay!” Cecil grinning like a mad man stumbled out of the chest and faced the chaos to greet his cat. He rubbed his head, taking comfort with the monstrous growl that was his purr. He paused, hand hovering over the spines of his cat as a flicker of movement appeared in the peripheries, a warm breath kissing the back of his neck before a navy blue cup with painted stars shattered onto wall.

“You’re late.”

Cecil pulled his hand away from Khoshekh and lowered it lowered to his side, “and so? What happened?”

“Don’t you know?” A suppressed scoff, “You're late, clueless, and covered in blood. You look like a murder victim Cecil.”

Cecil looked down at himself and noticed the bloodstains on his poncho dried and still looking fresh like the day it happened. He blinked unsure when he had gotten blood on himself. The amount of blood on him looked like the death of someone. Cecil paled, questions filling his head as he questioning the whole world around him. When was he covered with blood? His hands trembled as he touched the blood handprint stained on his poncho. Who's hand was this?

“What….? How did this...I-I was only an hour...late coming home. I-I don't understand. I don't understand.” Cecil pulled at the poncho hoping the bloodstains would fade, mind racing, stomach churning like he was on one of those stupid carnival rides. What. Happened. To. Him.

“An hour?” Cecil looked up as the movement in his peripheries shifted to the other side the room. The Faceless Old Woman laughed, it wasn't a friendly laugh like a joke one would make. It was laugh that meant doom ,”Cecil…. It had been two days since you left. Two days. Do you even realize how difficult it is to care for a cat while having to stand this destroyed mess? I have destroyed a plenty of things but this…. They outdid me.”

“Are you saying that you didn't make this mess? Was I really gone for two days?” Cecil inquired now frowning at his destroyed home. He was amazed that Khoshekh could even handle living in this horrible pit of hell.

“No, I'm just saying this to be a smart- yes, clueless. I'm saying that I didn't do this  _ and _ that you've been gone for two days.”

“If you didn't do this then who did? Was it an Outsider? They always did have a bizarre fashion sense. Yeah it had-” Cecil pulled from his pocket his journalism notebook and pen to start writing.

“Who else Cecil?” Faceless Old Woman cooed, Cecil could practically hear the smile in her words, “Quartermaster Sam and their Secret Guards. They've been looking for you.”

“What?” Cecil stammered, shaking his head unsure what to say. He cleared his throat, still stammering “I-I don't understand what you mean, Faceless Old Woman? Why would they be looking for me? I didn't do anything. I.. don't...I didn't…”

“Oh Cecil..” She sighed briefly blowing warm air into his ear, “Poor, poor,  _ poor _ Cecil. I see what you have done. It's too early, far too early to be doing that. Life had always changed for not only you but Night Vale. I'll try to keep this...cat safe. Be careful or at least pretend to.”

“I don't-” a large slam hit against his home forcing his gaze towards his door. Shadows bleeding through the crack in his door. His heart raced within his chest, the entire moment feeling so familiar but how?

'They’re back! Cecil run!”

Cecil felt like a trapped two headed deer in a cage unsure which why to run, two heads with conflicting views. His lungs burned as he rushed towards the window, grimacing at the painful decor as he opened it. Cecil started climbing out of the window, his eyes staring at Khoshekh wishing he could take him.

“I'll be -” Cecil's words were cut off as a sharp pain seared from the back of his head. His vision blurred before black overwhelmed him. His body fell forward as unconsciousness took him.

* * *

 

“Oooh someone remembered…” Kevin sang, his bloodied grin wide, his eyes filled with pain. Cecil watched as Kevin's body tensed up in pain, a welcomed feeling.

“Kevin. You...you killed he- agh!” Cecil hissed in pain, his body burning like he was aflame, like millions of daggers stabbing into his flesh.

“Bloodstains matter when you are the one being punished for a crime that you watched being commit.” Kevin seethed as Cecil fell to his knees.

“I..I didn't…” Red filled his vision, his body burning in pain. Cecil tried to speak his voice failing, he was losing his voice. The Voice of Night Vale had lost his voice. He should have listened.

All Kevin did was laugh, a pain filled laugh but a laugh of dark intent. A laugh that meant pleasure to him but terror to another. A laugh that plagued Cecil in his dreams as darkness pulled him under into the unknown.

Cecil woke only once. Just once to see a sea of white and purple fur where his arms should have been. His vision fading quickly, his mind fogged but something haunted him as a pair of ebony eyes surrounded by black fur with yellow stripes and blood stained fangs seethed at him, ready to strike. At that moment, Cecil fell back into the darkness of the unknown. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I must say that this is probably the wierdist story I have ever written. But I love it so far. Thanks to everyone for reading and don't forget to hit the kudos button or review of you want more.
> 
> Chapter proverb: If you're happy and you know it. Good for you. We need more postivity in the world.


	4. Mysteries

_ ~ ‘ Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand’- Neil Armstrong ~ _

Carlos had gotten up extremely the next day, the sun was barely peeking over the horizon of trees and tall buildings. The sky was a light shade of pinks and blues the void of night and stars disappearing alongside the rising sun as he drove himself silently to campus. Carlos reminded himself as he took a sip of his bitter dark coffee that he was going to take the long way to his office. He must see the Circus and he did. 

Carlos could not remember when he arrived on the outskirts of the circus, a wall of iron bars and a massive gate greeting him with the morning sun. The soft click of his car door shutting behind him pulled him back into reality, he blinked slowly as if he was taking in a breath of fresh air. He walked towards the gate, spotting the shimmer of a massive clock upon a tower, its face nothing a dark purple eye surrounded by white roman numeral numbers. Its arms looked like antlers of a deer even though Carlos himself did not recognize.

The sides had what looked like the different attractions carved into its wooden sides. Carlos could see a variety of creatures from a five-headed dragon in mid-flight breathing out fire toward the center, while the other side had creatures that almost looked like angels. Each side of the clock had its own personality, one side had all performances like a girl flying during a trapeze act, a girl with taming a creature that did not belong in this world. An old woman looking like a saint with a crown of light above her head surrounded by creatures that looked almost like angels. 

The one thing that caught his eye was a pair of men or actually a pair of desecrated shadows of what looked like men. Their figures charred by fire, the only remnants of themselves were the shadow like tendrils forming from the back one man below a majestic glowing cloud while the other man stood beneath a bright sun with a bloody smile, blood splatters and knifes forming a shadow behind the other figure. Even destroyed by blackening wood, Carlos could see the never-ending smile that froze his blood in his veins. He quickly looked away, trying not to form nightmares in his head as he stared at the two tigers at the bottom. They seemed newer than the rest of the carvings, their paint still fresh, gleaming in the early morning sun. One he recognized, a beautiful white tiger with purple tendrils instead of stripes, its body calm and serene, almost like it was trapped in an invisible prison. While the other was an ebony black tiger with golden stripes that looked like sun rays and daggers in mid-strike of an unseen creature. He felt his breath leave his chest as of stabbed on the back. The clock as majestic as it was, was a symbol of the secret terrors that hid beneath big tops and masquerades of the Circus.

Carlos stepped away from the gates, breathe still vague from amazing beauty and terror of the symbol of its existence. A sign appeared before him, hanging loosely on its dark metal bars. It's wooden plank painted deep purple with silver words faded from the sunlight. 

 

_ Beyond these gates stands a Circus community where things considered mystical and bizarre are apart of normal life. _

_ A place where things are not what they seem and can trick the eye in a moment's notice. A place where the lines between fantasy and reality seem to collide in a brilliant spectacle.  _ _ Enter those who are willing to set aside their beliefs and dreams to take part in a mystical world where no one knows if the world is nothing but a game. _

_ Welcome to Cirque de Night Vale. _

“Everything is defined by the thin line of what one would consider real and fantasy,” Carlos muttered to himself as he finished reading the sign, a smile forming on his lips as he stepped back towards the gate.  “That's exactly what science is. Science defines what one considers factual. A matter of being that could be studied, leaving nothing but pure evidence that compares to pure Star Trek level stuff. Would this Circus be considered scientifically relevant or could it be something more? I must know.”

He reached out towards the iron bars, his hands trembling in anticipation. His smile grew wider as he breathed out to himself “For science that has been known and to the science of what has yet to be discovered.”

As Carlos hand barely grasp the iron bar, he felt a sharp pain rush up his arm. a painful tremor as the pain grew forced his body to release the gate and stumble backward onto the ground. His entire body felt weak as jello, his arms laid at his side unable to move and his chocolate eyes stared blankly up to the sky. He took a long deep breath as his eyes closed for only a moment. His heart rushing from the shock, his lungs burning from the lack of air.

_ Breathe Carlos. Breathe.  _ He took a breath his lungs grateful for the air that was graciously welcomed in. He opened his eyes, the clouds above him seemingly unmoved from the moment on the ground. Carlos sat up, inspecting his hand to find a charred cuff of his lab coat and singed hair. A minor electrical shock.  Maybe. He didn’t really know actually . He shook it off and stood up from the ground, his legs feeling like jello that had been messed a little too much by a child. Carlos pinched his brow in agitation and a bit of confusion before looking towards the gate. There were no signs warning people that the gate was electrocuted or any sign of it at all. There were no breakers or wires. No fuse boxes or generators to charge the gate. All there was was that sign greeting people to- no wait. Carlos stared at the sign once more. He could have sworn that he watched it morph, its words dissipating like grains of sand on glass, only to be replaced by new words that read:

 

_ Circus only opens to those with invites at dusk and closes at the start of dawn.  _

_ Outsiders with invites are not allowed inside at first light. Interlopers have been warned.  _

 

“So nothing about being fried, alright that seems a bit-”

“Jesus Christ! Carlos, there you are!”

Carlos’ hand dropped from his face, freezing in fear as the voice grumble loudly behind him.  _ Now I’ve done it.. I think. What have I done anyway?  _ Carlos reluctantly turned his body towards the agitated voice. “Oh no…” Carlos muttered wide-eyed as he watched his redheaded olive colored grad student with a bad attitude rush towards him.

All he could do was smile, right? It wasn’t like Carlos had done anything wrong, right? All he did was pay a visit to the Circus and possibly gave himself cardiac arrhythmia… it wasn’t like he disappeared off the face of the planet for ten years. He raised his hand, giving a nervous smile and waved “Oh good morning Diana…..oh” Diana’s face which was already angered grew into a furious snarl, “Oh no… no...no…”

“Where the hell were you? I have been looking all over for you! Do you realize how late you are?!”

“Late?” Carlos blinked, staggering back slightly at her accusation, “No. Impossible. I’m early.” He pulled back his sleeve to stare at his clock now fried from his electrocution “ I should have enough time to-”

Diana folded her arms and stared at him like a mother scolding her child. She raised her eyebrows before rolling her eyes and tugging at her red curls, “Carlos, you’re joking, right? You did even look at a clock before taking a- why in the hell is your lab coat charred? You know what? We’ll talk about this later. Right now, you have to hurry. It’s almost ten and we have to distribute the midterms for 226. You did remember to bring the exams this time, right?”

“Yes, yes they’re in my off- wait. What?” Carlos shook his head as he followed his grad student up the hill towards the University, “Its nearly ten? How? It was six thirty when I-” Carlos stopped to look back to the Circus. The sign that hung loosely from the gate had disappeared and the Circus Clock now read five to ten. “How in the name of Albert Einstein did this happen? This can’t be-be-be- there has to be a scientific anomaly with this Circus or something. No possible way that three and a half hours have passed since-”

Diana turned back and pulled his arm away from the Circus, shaking her head “Come on, idiot. We don’t have time to questions the anomalies of the universe. We got freshmen to torture.” 

“But Diana-!”

*~~*

Carlos sat at his desk, his eyes trying to focus at the auditorium full of underclassmen scratching their pieces of graphite embedded in wood against a bundle of pulverized wood. Diana sat at the table beside him taking a nervous student’s exam as well. She muttered something to the student who quickly seemed at ease before leaving the auditorium. He sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair once more, his mind lost in what he wished was the Circus. So many questions plagued him. Did he pass out after he received the shock? How could time move faster for the little time he was at the border of the Circus? Did Cirque de Night Vale had something that could potentially change the world or did the sign tell the truth? Did the Cirque really sit on a line where reality and fantasy seem to collide?

Diana cleared her throat forcing Carlos out of his thoughts. She nudged towards the top of the auditorium where a lonely student had her hand raised. He nodded as he stood up, adjusted his lab coat and climbed towards the top where the nervous student sat tapping her pencil against her desk.

“Yes, Ella?” Carlos asked as he stared at the red envelope hanging from her open bag. The way it was sitting looked like it was just placed there like someone was slipping it into her bag without her even noticing

“Uh.. yes, Professor, I.. wouldn’t you say that the Cenozoic Era was the most diverse era instead of the Mesozoic?”

Carlos leaned over to glance at the paper and chuckled, “Ella, I think you’re combining the two questions. It's asking what era was considered the oldest from paleontologists.”

Ella glanced towards her paper and facepalmed. “Oh god, you’re right. Sorry Professor.”

“It’s alright. I would also put that envelope away… Diana would think that you’re cheating if she saw that.” Carlos whispered pointing to the envelope, his eyes widen when he noticed the ever so familiar eye on the wax seal. An eye that he had seen so many times in a matter of a day. The eye of the Circus.

Ella looked towards her backpack, her pencil slipping from her hand onto the desk before rolling off. She released a shocked gasp as if she herself didn’t know that the envelope was there. “So it is true… one must be invited.”

“Invited?’ Carlos whispered as he watched Ella pick up the envelope and staring at it as if it was more than a piece of paper, “Invited to what?” He knew the answer to that but he had to be sure. Scientist do not go into things blindly… for the most part.

“I’m sorry…. I’ll put it away.” Ella stuffed the envelope deep inside her backpack and smiled brightly. She was hiding something from him and he had lost the chance to find out“Thank you for answer my question.”

“Yes… you’re… welcome.” Carlos noticed the flicker of light in the corner of his eyes again. The last time it had happened was last night when the Circus arrived. Maybe this flicker and voice had something to do with the Circus. A voice without a body. Invisible or nonexistent. It was something not of this world, he thought.  He quickly rushed down the stairs of the auditorium and sat back at his desk, he started tapping on his desk waiting for time to run out

“Stop tapping on your desk… you’re distracting the students. Now watch them. James in the second row is cheating, he has the answers engraved on his pencil” The female voice whispered in his ear, making stop immediately. Carlos hiccupped as he sat up straight and shot a glare at James who in fact was cheating.  _ Damn this voice is…  _  “James Terraick, come up here to talk to me please... oh and bring your exam. ” Perhaps, who or whatever this voice was could actually be helpful. But first, he had to know what Ella mean about the invite and one would earn such a thing. 

 


End file.
